The subject matter disclosed herein relates to the installation of a seal in a syngas cooler associated with a gasifier.
In general, integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) power plants are capable of generating energy from various hydrocarbon feedstock, such as coal, relatively cleanly and efficiently. IGCC technology may convert the hydrocarbon feedstock into a gas mixture of carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrogen (H2), i.e., syngas, by reaction with steam in a gasifier. These gases may be cleaned, processed, and utilized as fuel in a conventional combined cycle power plant. For example, the syngas may be fed into a combustor of a gas turbine of the IGCC power plant and ignited to power the gas turbine for use in the generation of electricity. Coal gasification processes may utilize compressed air or oxygen to react with the coal to form the CO and H2. These processes may generally take place at relatively high pressures and temperatures and may generally be more efficient at design point conditions. Cooling the hot syngas may be beneficial, for example, to aid in maintaining the stability of the syngas during transmission of the syngas from the gasifier to the gas turbine of the IGCC. Additionally, steam may be generated during the cooling process that may then be utilized in conjunction with the steam turbine of the IGCC power plant.
The cooling of the syngas may occur in a radiant syngas cooler. The typical vertical layout of the syngas cooler may allow leakage of the cooled syngas to flow from the bottom of the radiant syngas cooler back to the top, which may cause accelerated corrosion of the radiant syngas cooler. Accordingly, there is a need for a device that may prevent cooled syngas leakage into a radiant syngas cooler, as well as a method of installing such a device.